


Pyrrhic

by F-117 Nighthawk (F117_Nighthawk)



Series: Don't Waste It [2]
Category: Avengers: Endgame - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, Missing Scene, but also are happy bc they find each other, like damn, they uhhhh see what happens and are sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 14:51:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18640345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F117_Nighthawk/pseuds/F-117%20Nighthawk
Summary: The Avengers watch Thanos's army crumble.





	Pyrrhic

**Author's Note:**

> :))))) you're welcome

Steve coughed as one of the Chitauri threw him off and he slammed into a wall.  _ Damn _ he’d never  _ dreamed _ he was going to end up fighting  _ Chitauri _ again. He coughed and rolled into a crouch, but he couldn’t see where the hammer had ended up and three of them were bearing down on him--

There was the sound of a gun firing three times in rapid succession and the Chitauri fell to the ground with three identical spurts of blue blood. Steve blinked at them, trying to process what had just happened. 

“Steve,” a voice said above him, on the wall he’d just crashed into. A very familiar voice. 

Steve looked up as boots landed in his vision to find a shaggy mop of brown hair framing blue eyes and a scruffy face. He reached a hand down and Steve took it, still staring at him. “Bucky?”

Bucky gave him a smile he hadn’t seen in a very long time and Steve pulled him into a hug that would’ve crushed anyone but a supersoldier. As it was Bucky let out an oof and flailed to not run Steve into his gun. “Hey, punk.”

Steve, with full knowledge they were in the middle of a battlefield, buried his head in Bucky’s shoulder. “You’re a fucking jerk.” They stood for a few precious seconds, just hanging on to each other after so long, before another Chitauri came running at them.

The Chitauri received a hammer through the head. 

Steve almost laughed at the face Bucky made as he looked at the hammer. “Come on. We need to find the Stones again.”

“I think we’ve got more immediate problems,” Bucky told him with a glance over his shoulder. Steve turned to find a hoard of Chitauri racing towards them. He glanced back at Bucky, who simply raised his rifle and nodded. With a yell they charged.

Steve whacked the hammer up through the head of one as the thunder of guns rang to his right. He brought his own thunder to the mix, electrocuting an entire row of Chitauri as the hammer slammed through them. He had a moment of missing his shield before Bucky’s arm was in his way, catching a stray burst on the vibranium like it was nothing. Then the hammer was back in his hand and he swung it through the advancing line.

Bodies piled up around them as the hoard stopped their advance, slowly pushing them back to back. Steve spat a mixture of bodily fluids both his own and not that he didn’t want to think about out of his mouth before glancing back to Bucky. They were totally, completely surrounded, with no hope of getting through the hoard to where Steve could just barely see a tall purple figure smash Carol halfway across the destroyed compound. 

Thanos had smashed  _ Carol, _ one of the most powerful beings he had ever met, which meant only one thing. Thanos had the stones again. 

With a grim face Steve zapped a few more Chitauri. He had to get over there, had to try and get the Stones again before they lost again, lost everyone again, he  _ couldn’t lose them again.  _ Determined, he whirled the hammer and threw it into the nearest one--

It turned to ash before the hammer hit.

Then the one behind it, and behind  _ it,  _ and behind and behind and behind and  _ oh god it was happening again. _ Steve whirled to grab Bucky, to try and stop him from disappearing  _ again, _ but was greeted with a very alive and similarly wide-eyed supersoldier. Around them, Thanos’s hoard crumbled into dust and ashes.

Silence reigned on the battlefield. Shakily, Steve activated his comm. “Avengers. Check in.”

Bucky tapped his own. “White Wolf here.”

“Black Panther. Shuri and Okoye are with me.”

“Rocket. Rest of the Guardians are here. Even Nebula.”

“Scarlet Witch.”

There was a groan, followed by “Captain Marvel here and my god my head hurts.”

“Doctor Strange, I’ll get to her.”

“Falcon here.”

“Uh, Ant-Man here, Wasp’s with me. Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

“Aye, I, Thor, am as well. Something has happened.”

“Hawkeye checking in.” Clint sounded out of breath, like he was running. “Is it just Thanos’s forces?”

“Bruce here. It seems so so far.”

There was a beat of silence over the comm. Steve stared at Bucky, who stared back. There were still four voices missing. “Stark? Rhodes?”

Silence crackled over the comm. 

“Iron Man?”

Steve held his breath, waiting,  _ begging _ for them to answer.

“Tony?”

It came out small, hopeless.

The comm crackled with silence and Steve was about to organize a search party, they had to just be unconscious, right, when--“Cap.”

“Rhodey!” Rhodes’ voice was a croak. It almost sounded like he was crying.

“I’m here, and I’ve got the spider kid and Pepper with me.”

“Do you know where Tony is?”

“....yeah. Yeah, he’s--he’s--fuck.”

Steve desperately wanted to ignore the sinking feeling in his chest. He burst out running towards the last place he had seen Thanos, because if Tony was anywhere it was going to be the heart of the action. He could see Clint, Thor, and Bruce heading in the same direction, far ahead of assorted other Avengers. They all skidded to a stop at the edge of the crater and glanced around for an easy way down before their eyes caught on a familiar color scheme. 

The four of them stared down at the four figures at the bottom of the crater. Rhodey was hanging onto Peter, supporting him as he curled against his side. His faceplate was down and he glanced up at them. Steve could see tears even this far away. And Pepper…

Pepper was kneeling in front of a familiar suit of red and gold armor that was damaged almost beyond recognizability. Her hair covered her face but Steve knew with a complete certainty that he hated that she was crying. One silver armored hand was out of his view, but the other rested where a soft blue light should have been, a red and gold one covering it. Steve traced the lines of damage down his arm from the broken arc reactor to his gauntlet.

All six Infinity Stones glowed gently on Tony’s right hand.

Tony had snapped. He’d taken the Stones, and he’d snapped. He’d removed Thanos’s army from existence, but in the process…

“Avengers,” he croaked into the comm. “Start doing what you can. Tony just gave us a second chance. Let’s not let his sacrifice go to waste.”

One, Strange had said. One future where they won. One where it all turned out alright in the end.

Steve had to wonder if this was worth it. 


End file.
